Apple's iTunes Radio to Launch in September

The service will start Stateside this fall.

Posted on Aug 22, 2013 02:49 pm

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iTunes Radio, Apple's music streaming service, will launch next month in the United States, NME reports.
The free internet radio will feature over 200 stations with a large catalogue of music after Apple inked deals with all the major record labels and the service will go ahead Stateside after the brand made sponsorship deals with companies such as McDonald's, Pepsi and Nissan. Users will hear an audio advert every 15 minutes and see a video ad every hour. It was previously announced that the service will launch in the Autumn with that date now specified as being September by industry site AdAge.
They claim that brands such as McDonald's, Pepsi, Nissan and Procter & Gamble have committed to take out advertising campaigns which will range in value from "high single-digit millions of dollars to tens of millions of dollars."
It is claimed that iTunes Radio adverts will be opened up to brands who agree to spend at least $1m with Apple from the start of 2014.
iTunes Radio users will be offered the use of personalised radio stations tailored to their own taste as dictated by the music they already listen to on iTunes. Additional stations will be based on genre with others curated by Apple.
"iTunes Radio is an incredible way to listen to personalised radio stations which have been created just for you," said Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. "It's the music you love most and the music you're going to love, and you can easily buy it from the iTunes Store with just one click."
Earlier this year rivals Nokia criticised iTunes Radio, accusing Apple of "playing catch-up" in comparison to its own Nokia Music service. "We launched our streaming radio service in 2011. It's interesting to see Apple react now and it seems they continue to play catch-up," said Nokia Entertainment CEO Jyrki Rosenberg in a statement. "Nokia Music will stay true to our mobile-first approach and continue to deliver an extremely simple, personalised and contextual way to discover and enjoy music on the go."